Family Displaced By Fire

MANCHESTER — Katie Irish cried as she watched flames shoot from the roof of her neighbors' house at 81 Main St. Thursday afternoon.

Sarah Gagnon, whose mother and father own the house, arrived later and anxiously waited several minutes for news about whether anyone was left inside the burning building.

Irish told emergency service workers that she thought she heard someone yelling inside the house. Gagnon initially couldn't reach her mother and father, Mike and Eileen Giacalone, on the telephone.

Later, Gagnon was able to reach her parents by phone and determined that no family members were in the house.

The fire destroyed the house and took firefighters from three towns more than three hours to extinguish. The family dog, Hendrix, was rescued by firefighters, revived with oxygen and taken to Bolton Veterinary Hospital. The family's cats have not been found, said William Parker, assistant fire chief of the Manchester Fire Department, Eighth Utilities District.

Firefighters from both Manchester departments and from Bolton and Vernon fought the fire, which appeared to have started on the second floor, Parker said. Investigators were expected to be on the scene into the night to try to determine the cause.

The blaze took so long to put out for two reasons, Parker said: The old house's balloon-style construction allowed the flames to spread unimpeded. Firefighters were also ordered out of the house at about 1:30 p.m. for fear the floors would collapse, he said. The fire was eventually extinguished at about 4 p.m.

``I can't get over the intensity of this fire,'' said John Lampson, director of maintenance at St. Bridget's church and school across the street.

Lampson and Erika Cooper of Bolton both saw smoke coming from the house and tried to alert anyone who might be inside.

Cooper said that shortly before 1 p.m., she was chatting with a friend on her cellphone when she saw smoke coming from the eaves. She pulled into the driveway and saw a car, making her think someone might be home. She dialed 911 as she tried to alert anyone who might be inside.

``I was kicking the door to make as much noise as I could,'' she said

The windows began to shake and, as she backed out of the driveway, they blew out, she said.

Meanwhile, Lampson ran across the street and began knocking on both the front and back doors, he said.

Police Officer Cleon Moses and Sgt. Sandy Ficara arrived and tried to get in the house, but were driven back by smoke.